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| Photo by theDQT |
Advocate
Call your legislator: The American Library Association (ALA) has just made it much easier for you to respond to email alerts relating to legislative activity affecting libraries. It takes just a few minutes. Text “library” to 877877 and you’ll get a message asking for your address. Enter your address, and you’re signed up. When there’s a legislative alert from ALA about library and information issues, the organization will send you a text that contains “talking points” and a link to the telephone number of the representative whom you should call. Just click on the phone link and your call will be immediately placed. You can expect to get two or three messages per month. You don’t even have to be an ALA member to sign up!
Appen-ing
Spider-Man: To coincide with the July 3 opening of The Amazing Spider-Man, Disney Publishing has released an interactive augmented book app that brings the story to life. The app includes interactive art, photos, and games that let you become part of the story. Within the app, kids can put on a Spider-Man mask, collect augmented reality spiders in jar, wear Peter’s father’s glasses, and more. It is available on iTunes for iPhone and iPad.
Dino Dan: Three interactive storybooks based on the Dino Dan TV series that airs on Nick Jr. are being released by Ruckus Media Group for the iPad through the iTunes app store. The show “teaches kids about dinosaurs and how to use scientific methods to identify and solves problems.” The apps, intended for children ages four to eight, combine live-action and 3D animation and follow Dan Henderson and his friends as they discover clues about dinosaurs. Parents receive a digital report card that gives them feedback on their kid’s reading skills, including phonics and comprehension. The three iReaders are Dino Race, Dino Trap, and Dino Dent. Each app features video, learning activities, and games.
Curriculum Connections
Free teaching resources: A new website, sharemylesson.com, is being launched by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in partnership with TES Connect, the largest network of teachers in the world. The website, developed by teachers for teachers, will feature free lesson plans, activities, games, and more for grades K-12. Curriculum areas covered will include the arts, language arts, foreign languages, health, math, physical education, science, and social studies. The site will also provide information about the Common Core State Standards. Share My Lesson supports teachers by giving them a place to come together and share their knowledge, skills, lesson plans, and effective classroom strategies. It’s an easy-to-use site for classroom resources—and it’s free. “It will become every teacher’s go-to online destination for the support they need,” said Randi Weingarten, AFT President.
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About Phyllis Levy Mandell
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